~ Thoughts … deep and otherwise

Why voter fraud is important now

President Donald Trump, in one of his less notable, offhand tweets that has been way overblown in the media, has stated that if it had not been for voter fraud in last November’s General Election, he might have won the popular vote as well as the Electoral College endorsement.

The pundits on both sides of the political aisle have said in the wake of the tweet that the president has much bigger fish to fry, and that voter fraud ought to take its rightful place at the bottom of his “to do” list.

Horse hockey!

Granted, Trump is facing some formidable challenges – among them getting Jeff Sessions, a good and honorable public servant, confirmed as the nation’s new attorney general.

But let’s not push voter fraud under the bus so quickly.

Reports have stated that there’s “overwhelming consensus” among state officials, election experts and various politicians that voter fraud is “rare” in the United States. The reports themselves need investigation from the top. Just how “rare” is voter fraud? And where is it aberrant?

It might be true that voter fraud is rare in the red states and elsewhere in “flyover country,” where Abraham Lincoln’s utterance that “honesty is the best policy” still holds some sway. It’s not those states that are in question.

But in at least 10 states, aggressive voter-roll audits and probes into illegal Election Day shenanigans is justifiably warranted. Those states would be California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

But why investigate now? Because, any evidence of fraud last November would still be relatively fresh. U.S. attorneys in the targeted states could order an immediate freeze and impounding of Election Office records. To wait two or three years would be counterproductive and a waste of taxpayer money. There’s just no sense putting off until tomorrow what you can get going on today.

The next step? Mandatory picture identification at voting booths across the nation. It’s time. It’s logical. It’s justifiable. Several states have shown that it works. And it is NOT totalitarian. It’s part of the price for residing in the USA and luxuriating in the nation’s freedoms. Cut the politicking. Follow the rules that aim to preserve justice, and you can vote.